(Chamberlain Conference) Transformers

Before the draft, I earmarked this division as a very tough one. All four owners have been fantasy champions in various sports, most of them have been commissioners, and all of them were convinced they would have the best team. True to my prediction, post draft, this division will prove to be a battle ground. Steve and Roger are heavy on the veterans and looking to win now. Oliver's team is a nice blend of old and young, and Brian's team is young but extremely talented. So if you're trying to compare actual Transformers to the teams in this division, then Team Korea! and Buffy are Ironhide and Grimlock. Half Man Half ImAsian embodies Jazz. And Squirtle Squad is Hot Rod. Or maybe this is all stretching the analogies too far. On with the show!

Half Man Half ImAsian (Oliver)
Oliver's a former SlamNation champion and brings great GM skills and coaching abilities to the table. With ultra-versatile Kevin Durant as his franchise cornerstone, Oliver was set to go in any direction. Still, it was a bit of a surprise when he took Durant's real life teammate, Russell Westbrook with his second selection. Then again, Westbrook is fully capable of equaling/surpassing both Rajon Rondo and Derrick Rose's numbers in the upcoming years. All three are similar guards who can get in the lane at will but have poor jump shots. In order to make up for Westbrook's lack of three point range, Oliver snatched up Troy Murphy, last season's fantasy darling. The starting five is rounded out with Andrew Bogut at center and Rip Hamilton at shooting guard (Rip still wants to know why he's so hated by Oliver).

Backup guard Mario Chalmers is very similar to Westbrook and will provide plenty of steals and assists. The other backcourt subs, Kirk Hinrich and Anthony Parker, will make occassional appearances for their long range shooting and supportive high fives. Oliver will really need Marreese "Mississippi" Speights to get quality minutes soon, otherwise Kendrick Perkins will have to help out mightily in the blocks department and give ultra-whities Murphy and Bogut some hip hop edge and intimidation in the process. All in all, Oliver's team looks well poised for another successful year.

Korea! Korea! (Steve)
We were really hoping Nate Robinson would end up on this team. Think about the in-practice dunking contests that could happen. Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Jason Richardson, and Nate Robinson -- that would have been six Slam Dunk championships combined. Team Korea would be able to charge admission for that kind of entertainment. This team needs to invest in baskets that stretch to thirteen feet, immediately. By taking the next dominant big man (post-Shaq) with the fifth overall pick, Steve set himself up for an interesting draft. Taking venerable PG Jason Kidd in the second round indicated that this team would be built for an immediate championship run. Following that strategy, the next four picks were also battle tested veterans. Carter, Richardson, Antawn Jamison, and Manu Ginobili are all over thirty and have only a few good years left, but they are definitely still capable of producing big numbers.

The main question with this team will be health. Vince is already down, Jamison is returning from injury, Manu is getting rabies vaccinated. And there seems to be an awful lot of swingmen on this team -- all those guys plus Josh Howard. Who will help Dwight control the boards and block some shots? Sneaky ninth round selection Yao Ming is out for the year so someone else will have to support Dwight for this season (but next year Team Korea will have the best center duo in the game). Reserves Rodney Stuckey and Brendan Haywood might be pressed into service soon as they're the only other PG and Cs on the roster behind Kidd and Howard. Oh and Erick Dampier, who is leading the league in blocks right now. Yes, Erick Dampier.

Buffy (Roger)
Just like Steve's in love with swingmen, his division rival Roger seems to have a similar addiction, but to power forwards. Three of Buffy's top four picks are natural power forwards. Tim Duncan, Elton Brand, and Carlos Boozer will provide plenty of front court scoring, low post defense, and fantastic field goal percentage, but who will pass them the ball? The face of the franchise, Brandon Roy, is a shooting guard, and the only point guard on the roster is Andre Miller -- who's not even starting for the Blazers. In fact, the only other guard on the roster is Michael Redd (injured) so the backcourt is thin. This will definitely bear watching.

The good news is that Roger seems to have found a gem in young center Marc Gasol, who has been putting up incredible numbers in his sophomore season. With Lamar Odom doing tremendous things while starting for Marc's brother in LA, an underrated Udonis Haslem, and versatile Wilson Chandler as the glue guy, this team is going to pound the ball inside and try to overpower opponents. The window for this team is pretty small though since Duncan might be on the decline soon, not to mention some of the other guys on this team aren't exactly spring chickens. Clearly Roger is of the "Just win now baby!" philosophy, and he's set up a good foundation to do just that.

Squirtle Squad (Brian)
Early in the season, Carmelo Anthony looks like he's on a mission. Insulted to have slipped out of the first round, Melo has been throwing up incredible scoring numbers and contributing a well rounded stat sheet to boot. Along with the return of Al Jefferson and a much hyped Anthony Randolph, Squirtle Squad has quite the future ahead of them. And they drafted along those lines because they've definitely hedged their bets for the following years with early round selections of rookie PG Tyreke Evans and PF Blake Griffin. If everything works out, Griffin could be part of a dominant front line for years to come -- unless the Clipper curse continues to sideline him, like forever.

So who's going to hold down the backcourt until Tyreke is ready? Well, Baron Davis is healthy (for now) and doing a little bit of everything -- including missing a lot of shots. Backup guards Randy Foye and Nate Robinson will help take some pressure off the big guys by bombing away from the outside while "big game small name" John Salmons will probably start at shooting guard. And of course, there's Shaq, who might be a key cog for this team with his rebounds and blocks. Plus he could be asked for much more as the only backup center to the brittle Jefferson. The Squirtles are set up for a promising future but unless a few key guys start playing really well now, they might be a little light on depth for this season. Then again, if Carmelo is going to continue to score at the fantastic rate of one point per minute, there might not be much to worry about. And yes I'm bitter Melo didn't drop to me.